News, articles and information about Jewish art, architecture, and historic sites. This blog includes material to be posted on the website of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments (www.isjm.org).

This has led me back to the recognition of a broader lack of information about 19th-century American synagogue interiors. With a few notable exceptions, most of these buildings have not been written about in much detail, and when they are described the most attention is focused on their external style (Classical, Gothic, Moorish, etc.). The best overall account of 19th-century synagogues remains the first chapters of Rachel Wischnitzer's book Synagogue Architecture in the United States. published in 1955 - more than a half century ago. But Wischnitzer did not focus much on issues such as the types and arrangement of benches and other seating (and their relation to interior processional routes); the placement of functional, symbolic and ritual lighting; the decoration of windows and wall surfaces; and many more seemingly mundane but everyday arrangements that help define what the life of the synagogue (in addition to its architecture) really is.

New York, NY. Congregation Shearith Israel, 19th St. Bldg (1860), interior view showing procession with Torah scrolls at building dedication. The Sephardi seating arrangement - with a large open space between Ark and Bimah - makes processions easy. Less so, the arrangements in Ashkenazi synagogues. The placement of benches and location of aisles usually relates to liturgical practice as well as issues of comfort, space and public presentation. Photo: from M. Angel, Remnant of Israel, originally published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (Sept. 29, 1860).

We can do much more than that. I'm asking for help in identifying further source material to help
better describe the interiors of 19th and early 20th-century American
synagogues. As you will read - these can include contemporary photos
and drawings, newspaper and newsletter accounts, congregation
minutes, congregant memoirs and other recollections. Over the years
I have collected a lot of this material for my own use - but now I
would like to be more systematic in this compilation, and to use some
scholarly "crowd sourcing" to help.

In the past twenty years historic preservation efforts, including many
detailed architectural and material studies and research for the
preparation of National Register of Historic Places nominations have
amassed a large quantity of new informaiton on 19th and early 20th-century American synagogues. Local historical and genealogical societies have expanded and organized picture collections. But most of this material remains to be collated for comparative and historical study.

At the former Adas Israel, much remains
uncertain about the furnishings (except the benches); color scheme;
lighting and other fittings; as well as ritual items. We have a poor
(but still very useful) newspaper photo (above) from 1903 and some
non-specific descriptions in newspaper accounts of the
dedication. Surviving congregational minutes are not very helpful,
and except for three original benches, original furnishings and
ritual items from this first Adas Israel synagogue have not yet been
identified. So we need to turn to comparative material, like some of the images shown here, that record near-contemporary synagogues of traditional/Orthodox congregations.

Overall, with the exception of a few notable buildings
(such as Temple Emanuel, Shearith Israel - both demolished - and Central Synagogue in New York, Mikveh
Israel in Philadelphia (demolished), and a small number of others) the specific documentary evidence for 19th-century synagogue interiors is remarkably sparse.
Most synagogue interiors were never photographed - or the photos do
not survive. Those shown here are the exception, not the rule.

This was especially true of small synagogues, and those
built before the 1920s. For the synagogues of turn-of-the-century East European Jewish immigrants there are only dozens of known interior views of the hundreds of congregations and chevras that struggled or flourished, but then were gone. Successful congregations usually moved on to newer buildings
and neighborhoods. Unsuccessful congregations just closed their
doors. Sometimes richer congregations sold to poorer ones - and
in these cases when the older buildings have survived or survived
longer, more information can be gleaned .

After 1920, interiors of Reform and some
Conservative synagogues were photographed more than Orthodox shuls (it was customary to have photos on the bimah for graduation confirmation classes in Reform Temples) -
but even these views often only include close-up views of the Ark
area.

Contemporary
descriptions are hard to come by and need to be pieced together from
newspaper accounts in the mainstream local press (often written by
non-Jews unfamiliar with specific Jewish items and usage, and often
describing a formal occasion; not the everyday appearance) and some
in the Jewish press. Most of these have not been indexed (or
digitized) and we are lucky when they have been discovered and
published by local historians. Four major Jewish newspapers now appear to be available online through ProQuest - for those libraries that can afford the service. Some congregations or historical
societies do maintain building committee minutes, but these are often
very laconic or incomprehensible, and even at best describe items by
cost not by appearance.

We rely on all these sources for
comparative material as well as investigations of small number of
still extant synagogues (Baltimore, Phila. Southern New Jersey, North
Carolina, etc) and of synagogal ritual items now in congregational or
public museums. For many of the non-liturgical or non-symbolic items
we also can look at contemporary church, public building and even
domestic interior furnishings and decoration for similar items
(benches, lights, chairs, carpets, window shades, balcony rails, etc.
etc.).

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Welcome

This blog provides news and opinion articles about Jewish art, architecture and historic sites - especially those where something new is happening. Developed in connection with news gathering for the International Survey of Jewish Monuments website (www.isjm.org), this blog highlights some of the most interesting Jewish sites around the world, and the most pressing issues affecting them.

About Me

Samuel D. GruberI am a cultural heritage consultant involved in a wide variety of
documentation, research, preservation, planning, publication, exhibition
and education projects in America and abroad.
I was trained as a medievalist, architectural historian and
archaeologist, but for 25 years my special expertise has developed in
Jewish art, architecture and historic sites. My various blogs about Jewish Art and Monuments, Central New York and Public Art and Memory allow me to
clear my email and my desk, and to report on some of my travels, by
passing on to a broader public just some of the interesting and
compelling information from projects I am working on, or am following.
Feel free to contact me for more information on any of the topics
posted, or if you have a project of your own you would like to discuss.

This illustrated lecture will discuss how during the period of Jewish emancipation in Europe during the 19th century, as Jews achieved more and more political freedom in Europe, Jewish artists re-invented Jewish art. They produced a body of work based on the Hebrew Bible, synagogue life, and the Jewish world in which they were raised. By the end of the 19th century, academically trained artists were also addressing Jewish social and political themes in their art as well as religious traditions. This lecture introduces the work of many often forgotten artists such as Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Solomon Alexander Hart, Alphonse Levy, Edouard Brandon, Simeon Salomon and many others.

In the independent studios of the early 20th century many of these trends continued, though styles and subjects changed. Many Jewish artists actively engaged in and promoted new art styles including impressionism, Art Nouveau, cubism, fauvism, expressionism and constructivism – sometimes distancing themselves from all things Jewish, and sometimes building on Jewish themes. Well known Jewish Impressionists and Modernists included Camille Pissarro, Jozef Israëls, Max Libermann, Marc Chagall, and Amadeo Modigliani. Most of these Jewish painters- with the exception of Chagall – only occasional referenced Judaism in their art, though collectively they influenced how 20th century Jews viewed, understood and collected art.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of New York City’s Landmarks law and the Landmarks Preservation Board, architectural historian and preservationist I will trace the rich and varied architectural history of New York synagogues emphasizing remarkable buildings that have been lost, those that have been lovingly restored, and a significant number of noteworthy buildings that could and should be preserved. Some of the most notable of these buildings have been recognized as New York City Landmarks and others are included in recognized Historic Districts. Throughout this richly illustrated lecture This talk will introduce the necessary features that define all synagogues and the special features, including changing architectural styles and building configurations that are quintessentially New York.